Prime Minister, Tony Blair"The Conservatives are promising things without any notion of how they properly pay for them" real 28kShadow Social Security Secretary, David Willets"We do not believe that as the economy grows, the government should be taking a higher share in taxes" real 28kLib Dem leader Charles Kennedy"I think the public will take a healthily sceptical view of what Labour is saying" real 28kThe BBC's Gavin Hewitt"First day of the bus tour and not a critical voice has been encountered" real 56k

Thursday, 10 May, 2001, 20:41 GMT

Labour agrees manifesto

Tony Blair heads Labour's first election news conference

Labour's manifesto has been agreed at a joint meeting of cabinet minsters and the party's ruling national executive committee.

Ministers describe the document, to be published next week, as "radical and forward looking".

A radical and forward looking manifesto which will show the dividing lines between Labour and the Conservatives

John ReidNorthern Ireland Secretary

In contrast to the wrangling of previous years, the manifesto appears to have been approved without controversy.

The meeting, attended by Tony Blair, follows the launch of the Conservative Party manifesto on Thursday morning.

Dividing lines

After the meeting at Labour's London headquarters, Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid said Labour had produced a radical and forward looking manifesto.

It would show the clear dividing lines between it and the Conservatives.

But he refused to say whether the manifesto would renew Labour's pledge at the last election not to raise the basic rate of income tax.

Dr Reid said that in contrast to the Tory plans, Labour's manifesto was believable.

Economic record

Earlier, Tony Blair had put the government's record on the economy at the heart of his pitch to the electorate.

Speaking at Labour's first morning news conference of the election campaign, he said that hard won economic stability under Labour underlined the "fundamental choice" faced by voters.

He insisted that Britain was far stronger than when Labour came to office.

Gordon Brown attacked Tory plans

And he gave short shrift to Tory plans to cut tax on fuel, saying the they were unaffordable without slashing public spending or raising debt.

Economic credibility was the single most important requirement for government, continued Mr Blair.